Chocolate and the Universe
by itsverity
Summary: Chocolate frogs have an annoying habit of running away, but sometimes they lead you right where you need to be. Dramione.


**Hello! It's been a while since I've written anything, but I'm back! I'm thinking about making this into a three(ish) chapter story (maybe longer seeing how my last story went), so let me know what you think. Reviews make my life, so you know... Enjoy! :)**

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Today had just been one of those days: he had woken up late and missed breakfast, tripped down the stairs on his way to potions, and had dropped his book bag in a puddle after Moaning Myrtle had flooded the second floor. Feeling completely run down and even more grumpy than usual, Draco Malfoy couldn't wait to sit down in the common room and _relax_. But first things first, he needed something to alleviate a little bit of his stress. He glanced around furtively to make sure he was completely alone in the hallway before reaching in his robes and procuring his poison: a chocolate frog. Draco could scarcely contain his excitement as he fumbled while trying to open the box. He lifted the lid to reveal its chocolate glory, but underestimated the agility of the candy creature. As soon as the lid was off, the frog leaped spectacularly from its cardboard cage and proceeded to hop down the hall.

"Dammit!" Draco swore loudly. He briefly considered the repercussions of chasing a chocolate frog around the castle and then abandoned all dignity as he sprinted off after his prize. Draco felt the weight of his still damp book bag bouncing against his thigh as he ran. Deciding it was inhibiting his speed, he tossed the bag behind him, leaving a shower of poorly placed papers its wake.

_Oh well, _he thought. There were more pressing things to worry about at the current moment. Since when had chocolate frogs gotten so speedy? Ignoring the pain in his side, Draco followed the frog around a corner, and then stopped abruptly at the sight in front of him.

Hermione Granger was holding the chocolate frog, _his_ chocolate frog, and examining it intently as if trying to figure out where it had come from. She had yet to see him; he backed up a little bit so that she couldn't see him, but he could still see her. Silently he prayed that she would just put the frog down and go on her way. Of course that didn't happen. Instead, she took a step towards a nearby trash bin.

"NOOOOOOO!" Draco flung himself forwards, hands outstretched in desperation.

Hermione jumped and let out a frightened shriek. "Malfoy! What are you…? What happened to you?!"

Draco looked a mess and he knew it. He was out of breath and red-faced, and his usually well-groomed hair was slightly windblown from all the running. And with his hands still outstretched, he must've looked completely insane.

"Nothing, Granger. Just give me the frog." He tried to control his breathing as Hermione looked at him apprehensively.

She looked at him, and then at the frog. "This is yours?"

"Yes," he huffed irritably. That was fairly obvious, wasn't it? "The bloody thing hopped away from me, but I'd really like it back."

"You mean you're still going to eat it?"

What kind of question was that? "That's generally what you do with chocolate. Goodness, Granger, I thought you were supposed to be smart." Having recovered slightly, Draco was able to find a little bit of sarcasm.

Hermione couldn't keep a look of disgust from crossing her face. "Malfoy, it's been on the _floor_."

He simply stared at her. "I fail to see your point."

Her expression told him that he in fact should be seeing the point, but getting nothing she decided to explain. "Do you realize how disgusting this floor is? I honestly can't even guess at the last time it was cleaned. You are not about to eat something that's been hopping all over it."

_Okay, good point._ But he _needed_ that frog—at this point he really didn't care about its cleanliness.

"I don't think you understand. I _need_ that."

"No," she replied firmly. "You actually might die if you eat this. Come look at it, there's dirt _and_ hair on it."

Grudgingly he walked over. His heart sank as he realized she was correct. He was desperate, but not enough that he could be persuaded to eat the monstrosity being presented to him. White fluff covered the frogs chocolate entire entity with little black specks and random hairs spouting from different sections.

"You see?" Hermione asked.

His despair quickly turned to rage. With a manic yell, he swiped the chocolate frog from her outstretched hand and flung it against the wall. It shattered into dozens of pieces. Feeling like a small child, Draco plopped down in the middle of the hallway and groaned as he placed his head in his hands.

"Um…" He felt Hermione move next to him and place a hand tentatively on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Does it look like I'm bloody okay, Granger!? I just chased a chocolate frog across the castle and now I can't even eat it." He let out a bitter laugh. "I even threw my book bag somewhere so I could run faster."

"Bad day, huh?"

"You don't even know. I think the universe hates me today."

Hermione was silent for a moment. "Sometimes the universe just wants to be noticed."

"What?"

"I don't know, sometimes when I have days like this, I feel like it's the universe yelling at me to wake up, to take notice."

"But why?"

"I don't know," she laughed. "I haven't quite figured that part out yet."

Draco smiled a bit in spite of himself. "Maybe the universe is just an asshole then and decides to wreak havoc on individuals when it gets bored."

"Maybe." Hermione grinned and stuck her hand out to help him up. He looked at her quizzically. "Come on," she insisted.

Draco found himself standing at the portrait that lead to the kitchens.

"Granger, I'm not going in there."

Hermione tugged at the handle. "Why not?"

"Those house elves probably hate me! I don't want to be glared at right now."

"You'll be fine, you're with me. Just… be decent, okay?"

Draco scoffed. "Decent? I'm like the nicest person on the planet."

"Oh, sure you are. Maybe you should reassess why the universe decided to pick on you today."

Draco smirked and followed her into the kitchens. Immediately he found himself surrounded by tiny house elves that barely came up to his knee. They were all asking if he needed anything, so he glanced desperately at Hermione. She was saying something to one of the larger elves, but he couldn't make out what she was saying. All at once the elves dispersed, leaving behind an eerie silence.

"Uh, now what?"

"Sit." Hermione pointed to some rather comfy looking chairs in the corner of the kitchens. They looked rather out of place, but Draco shuffled over all the same.

After settling into a chair, he had to admit that he already felt much better. Hermione plopped into an adjacent chair and let out a sigh of contentment.

"So," Draco began. "Are the elves just going to bring me another chocolate frog or something?"

"No, it'll be better. Trust me."

The two sat in silence until Draco asked the question that had been nagging him for the past few minutes.

"So, why are you being nice to me?"

Hermione seemed taken aback. "I don't know… because I'm a nice person?"

"But I'm not. Actually, I kind of suck sometimes…"

She simply shrugged. "I don't know actually. You just looked kind of rough. And you probably don't suck _all_ the time; only most of it."

Draco half smiled. "Thanks. Kind of."

"Don't mention it." Hermione laughed, and then became more serious. "But really, don't actually mention this. I'm pretty sure the universe would implode."

"Hey, based on the way it treated me today I'm not sure that would be entirely awful."

This made both of them laugh. Oddly enough, Draco found talking with Hermione was actually kind of easy, which was surprising based on how much they argued. They settled into another silence, this one more comfortable than the first. Draco leaned his head back and closed his eyes, breathing deeply. His head snapped back up when he detected a delicious aroma. It couldn't be.

As if reading his mind, a house elf laden with fresh chocolate chip cookies appeared before him. Draco stared in disbelief as Hermione grinned and took the tray, placing it on a table between them. Another house elf provided the two with milk, and a third showed up with Draco's book bag. For the first time in his life, Draco Malfoy was speechless. Hermione grinned and grabbed a cookie.

"Hey! Don't eat all of them!" Draco exclaimed, finally finding his words. He too seized a couple of cookies. He couldn't help a moan from escaping as he bit into the first cookie. It was probably the most perfect cookie he had ever eaten in his life.

"Pretty good, huh?" asked Hermione cheekily.

Draco very maturely stuck his tongue out at her before devouring another two cookies. He couldn't remember being happier in his life.

"Is there a cheering potion or something in these things? I feel great."

"Nope, just the magic of deliciousness."

Draco leaned back in his chair. "Imagine if we all ate cookies every single day. The world would be a fantastic place, wouldn't it?"

"I'm sure it would be… How do you think the universe would feel about that?"

"It'd go crazy. Let's make it so, Granger."

Hermione shook her head. "You're weird when you're happy."

"Why do you think I'm never happy? Besides, you're always weird."

Hermione pretended to be wounded. "That's not a very nice thing to say to the person who just gave you cookies! You owe me, you know."

"I suppose I do…" Draco trailed off in thought.

Hermione stood up to leave. "I've got to go. I bet you can think of something good… something universe changing," she added as an afterthought.

Draco smiled as he watched her leave. "Oh, don't worry, Granger," he said to himself. "The universe wants to be notice, but now it's going to notice _us_."

As he bit into another cookie, Draco decided maybe today wasn't so bad after all.


End file.
